The Information's TITV Replit CEO's Contrarian AI Bet, Elastic's Search Moat & Musk's OpenAI Suit | Aug 29, 2025
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Sep 2, 2025 
Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, shares insights on the financial margins of AI, discussing its high costs and the impact on coding agents. Ash Kulkarni, CEO of Elastic, delves into the future of AI search and the competitive landscape. The conversation also touches on the legal clash between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, exploring Musk's evolving motivations in the AI arena, from philanthropy to potential self-interest. Together, they navigate the complexities shaping AI development and market dynamics.
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Token Prices Have Likely Plateaued
- Amjad Masad argues AI model token prices have plateaued after early drops and product leaders now hold pricing power.
- He says great models reduce competition, enabling sustained higher prices rather than perpetual declines.
Build Product Moats, Not Price Hopes
- Replit bets on building product convenience and technical depth to earn pricing power rather than hoping token prices fall.
- Do focus on integrated developer workflows and deployment primitives to justify enterprise premiums.
Customers Report Large Cost Savings
- Amjad recounts customers claiming hundreds of thousands saved in engineering hours or avoided SaaS purchases using Replit.
- Those savings underpin his claim that AI tools are cheap relative to human labor.